According to Customs and Border Protection data, the Tucson area has the highest number of violent incidents in the country since fiscal 2021. This year’s data, from October through February, shows 117 incidents, with the next highest being his 89 in the El Paso sector.

Officials say these figures should be considered in relation to the number of assaults on agents and the demographics of those arrested.

Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that “incidents using force will always vary by location.” “Each USBP’s area of ​​responsibility is a very different environment, with different illegal activities, different demographics of the subjects encountered, and different traffic flows. It poses challenges and threats: USBP agents are trained to use force only when reasonable and necessary.”

So far in FY23, nearly a quarter of all violent incidents nationwide have occurred in the Tucson sector, but only about 9% of the concerns are in the sector. Similarly, the Tucson sector has seen far more violent incidents involving firearms, with 11 incidents since the start of fiscal 2020. The next highest is the El Paso sector, at 7.

in the meantime recent incidentOn March 14, a suspected smuggling vehicle escaped and was shot dead near a port of entry in Sassave, Arizona. Agents overtook the vehicle and smashed both of the driver’s side windows with batons before grabbing the driver’s forearm. According to the agency’s statement, the driver, a U.S. citizen, changed gears and began to steer, and agents shot him once.

There was another American citizen in the passenger seat, two illegal immigrants in the back seat, and three illegal immigrants in the trunk.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Office later said the driver died at the scene. Says. The case is under investigation by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and his FBI. This is under review by CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility and has been referred to the DHS Office of the Inspector General.

One factor in the number of violent attacks is the large number of arrests in the Tucson sector. For example, so far this year, the Rio Grande Valley and Del Rio sectors have had more concerns, but far fewer incidents of violence, with 25 and 30 respectively.

The demographics of the subjects encountered may influence the use of force incidents.

“Like terrain, arrest demographics vary by sector,” National Border Patrol Commissioner Raul Ortiz said in a February tweet. “So far in FY23, the Tucson sector has We have arrested 55,372 single adult males who actively try to avoid detection by wearing camouflage, hiding and running.”

Similarly, single adults from Mexico and nearby Central American countries may be more likely to try to evade border guards in recent years. This is likely due to immediate expulsion from the country under Title 42 federally authorized public health policy. The government will send immigrants from certain countries directly to Mexico instead of registering them with immigration law.

Adam Isaacson, director of defense oversight at the Research and Advocacy Group for Human Rights in the Americas, says immigrant demographics could play a role. The Tucson sector has fewer immigrants seeking asylum than some other sectors, he says.

“Right now, immigrants are less likely to want to turn themselves in than in Tucson than in those sectors,” he says. This is due to the pattern of smugglers pushing people likely to be Title 42 targets into the Tucson sector. Pass through areas like Yuma to be allowed into the legal immigration process.

Another reason for the high number of violent attacks in the Tucson sector is the high number of vehicle tracks involved in violent incidents. Tucson has the highest number of vehicle pursuits counted as use of force this fiscal year so far from October to February, with 83. The El Paso and San Diego sectors have 51 and 47 incidents respectively.

Many vehicle traces are associated with suspected human trafficking cases. Criminal gangs are finding people, especially young people, on social media to pick up immigrants near the border in cities like Tucson and Phoenix.

Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security announced a new policy on the use of force, and CBP announced a new policy on vehicle tracking.

The Tracking Policy was released after a Department of Homeland Security complaint last year, alleging violations of civil rights or civil liberties resulting from incidents involving the tracking of vehicles by Customs and Border Protection employees. . The complaint alleges that CBP personnel engaged in vehicle tracking at unnecessarily high speeds given the alleged crime, deployed vehicle retention devices, and used tracking technology that could have resulted in serious injury or death. increase.

Changes to DHS’ use of force policy will have little impact on CBP’s use of force policy, CBP officials said.

Isacson, an advocate for human rights in the Americas, agrees that the new use of force policy requires little change in CBP. But if properly implemented, CBP’s new tracking policy, which went into effect in May, would make a positive difference, he said.

“It hasn’t worked yet, so we’ll have to wait and see,” he said.

Immigration advocacy groups say DHS policies are inadequate to protect human life and hold officials accountable for their improper use.

The Southern Border Coalition praised the Biden administration for reforming its use of force policy and improving accountability mechanisms, but said the new policy fell short of meeting international human rights standards.

The standard for the use of lethal force is to use it only when necessary, but the coalition says it falls below the international standard of “necessary and proportionate.”

Most U.S. federal agencies follow the rationality standard for the use of force, looking at whether the response was reasonable to the circumstances, and the international standard is whether force is necessary and proportionate, Isacson says. .

“Was it not just the use of force, but the appropriate use of force according to the situation?” he says. “As long as the standard of adequacy is followed, we can reasonably conclude that most, perhaps almost all, cases of serious use of force do not violate policy.”

CBP’s Fiscal Year 2021 Internal Investigations and Employee Accountability Reportsthe latest available, the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility has launched investigations into 684 incidents of the use of force, 21 of which involved the deadly use of force or resulted in serious injury or death, Occurred in Arizona, California, Indiana, Texas and New Mexico.

Although the results of these investigations have not yet been made public, CBP investigated seven significant incidents of violence that occurred prior to fiscal year 2021 that year. According to a report released in March 2022, two cases were found in violation of policy, one of which was pending action and the other was taken to the agency’s joint intake center for investigation. was queried.

In some cases of the use of force, cases are investigated by local law enforcement or other federal agencies, but Isacson said CBP often investigates itself when there is a use of force and possible wrongdoing. pointing out.

“Having the ability to self-investigate in this way is unique to CBP,” he said. “Therefore, if it is a criminal matter, we recommend that CBP be ruled out.”

Officials also say the use of force incident should be considered in the context of the number of assaults on agents.

Comparing the number of assaults on agents to incidents of violence by non-vehicle agents, which are more likely pursuit incidents, the numbers are often comparable.

Of the 115 violent incidents in the Tucson sector so far this year, 32 did not involve a vehicle. During the same period, he had 35 assault cases against agents.

“What the numbers don’t tell you is how proportional those responses are,” says Isacson. “If Border Patrol agents thought there was some kind of provocation, was it serious enough to warrant the use of such force?”